One place that
was definitely a large part of the Duane Allman legacy, along
with that of may other well-known
artists, is the Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals,Alabama. Muscle
Shoals is one of four small towns clustered in close proximity
in northwestern Alabama, Sheffield, Tuscumbia and Florence being
the other three. It sits on a beautiful part of the Tennessee
river and is home to the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built
the many dams and locks that tamed that waterway years ago. Long
known as one of the world class recording centers in the world,
this small town has been host to the Rolling Stones, Clarence
Carter, the Osmonds, Jerry Reed and many other acts equally as
diverse. It is also the home of W.C. Handy, father of the blues.
Bom as the dream of none other than Henry Ford, who along with
Thomas Edison, came to this area in 1921 to transform it into .a
“New Detroit,” those dreams faded into the easy going small town
atmosphere that survives today. There are still original
sidewalks that were laid for the new metropolis, some today run
right through the middle of cotton fields.

There are a few theories as to how the town got its name, but it
probably had to do with mussels, of which there are plenty in
the river and the fact that before Wilson Dam was completed in
that part of the stream, it was probably a shoal, or sandbar,
that makes the water shallow. Regardless, it was the area that
sparked the sounds heard around the world. Rick Hall, along with
Tom Stafford and Billy Sherrill, formed a partnership, and his
first studio and publishing company in downtown Florence. The
business was named “Florence Alabama Music Enterprises.”

After two years of moderate success, the partnership dissolved
and Hall moved the short distance to Muscle Shoals, carrying the
name with him, which he shortened to Fame. The studio, then set up in a tobacco
warehouse, found its first success with bellhop Arthur
Alexander’s “You Better Move On.” With the proceeds from that
hit, Rick Hall moved his operation to 603E. Avalon, where it
remains today.

Having limited resources, Hall was forced to use musicians who
were not of the caliber that larger studios were capable of
hiring.

“I just had to make a deal with the musicians because I had
nothing to offer them,” he recalls. “I wasn’t making any money.
It had to be time and dedication to the movement. A lot of times
I had to put them together in the studio for weeks or months to
get what I wanted.”

Engineering and producing all sessions at first, Hall had one
objective; hit records.

“We were adamant about hit records,” he says. “Our lives
depended on it, so we tried harder. We had to take the attitude
of never say die.”

That has become the credo of Rick Hall and his staff today. With
the success of hits like “Do Right Woman” by Aretha Franklin,
“I’m Your Puppet” by James and Bobby Purify, and ”Mustang Sally”
and “Land of 1,000 Dances” (which was included in the Forest
Gump soundtrack) by Wilson Pickett, he finally
made his mark.

A few years back, Rick Hall decided to get into the artist
development business and struck gold with country group,
Shanandoah, who had top 10 singles with “She Doesn't Cry
Anymore,” “See If I Care,” and the monster hit “Mama Knows.” But
before all of that, in 1968, his attention was caught by an
up-and-coming guitar player by the name of Duane Allman. Duane
put his stamp on the Wilson Pickett cover of the Beatles’ “Hey
Jude” (Wilson Pickett, by the way gave him the nickname of
“Skyman” because he was always up, always riding high. His other
nickname, “Dog,” —
because with his long strawberry
blonde hair resembling an Afghan hound — was
mixed in and he became know in certain circles as “Skydog”) and
Aretha Franklin’s cover of The Band’s ‘The Weight,” on which he
captured the world’s attention with his stellar slide guitar
work.

Hall had the foresight to sign Duane as an artist long before
his foray into artist development with country acts. Selling
Duane’s contract to Atlantic Records (whose Jerry Wexler had
done a lot of work at Fame) proved to be the launching pad for
what eventually became the Allman Brothers Band. Upon hearing
Duane play on the “Hey Jude” session, Phil Walden purchased the
contract for his new label, Capricorn Records, and gave Duane
the freedom to pick and choose his own band, staying out of the
creative process.

Duane moved to Muscle Shoals and began playing on sessions for
Rick Hall while living in a small cabin on Wilson Lake (the
dammed up portion of the Tennessee River that flows through the
quad cities) and riding his motorcycle.

Glad to be away from the restricting L.A. music scene, where the
band rarely got to play, he took to studio work like a frog to
flies.

“I rented a cabin and lived alone on
this lake,” he said. “I just sat and played and got used to
living without a bunch of jive Hollywood crap in my head. It’s
like I brought myself back to earth and came back to life again
through that, and the sessions with good R & B players.”

Still playing a Stratocaster through a Twin Reverb,
Duane was putting his stamp on some very hot records. One was the 1969 Grammy-winning cover of Joe South’s
“Games People Play” by sax great King Curtis, whose funeral
Duane attended shortly before his own tragic demise.

Some of these don’t list Duane because, as Johnny Sandlin
mentions in his memories of Duane, he would just stop by the
studio and play on anything that was going down at the time. One
of those sessions was with John Hammond Jr., who reportedly
showed Duane the open tunings.

It has been reported that Duane used open “G” or even open “A”
tunings, but my guess is that although he may have used these,
his choice was the open “E” tuning. I have come to this
conclusion from watching the few videos and studying his
recordings for years. If anyone has further insight I would love
to hear it. Regardless, Duane made a place for slide guitar in
music as we know it today. His work at Fame, and later
Capricorn, set the standards by which today’s slide players are
judged.

In retrospect, the sign above the door at Fame studio says a
lot.

“Through these doors walk the finest musicians, songwriters,
artists and producers in the world,” it says. I would have to
agree. Though Duane Allman has been gone for 25 years,
his memory and playing still live on in the slide work of people
like Bonnie Raitt and Jack Pearson, and the standards he set for
guitar players of all styles.

Let’s stop and give tribute to one of the greatest musicians to
ever grace this planet, Duane Allman.

A special thanks to Rick and Rodney Hall, at Fame Studios, for
letting VG use their wonderful, rare photographs of Duane
Allman, and for sharing information unselfishly.

Dave Kyle is a professional guitar player in Nashville. He
has done several interviews with guitarists from that city and
beyond. His stage, studio and television credits include working
with Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Danny Gatton, Chet Atkins, Duane
Eddy, Paulette Carlson, Charlie McCoy, Johnny Neal, Ray Flacke,
Boots Randolph, Lonnie Mack, Johnny Lee, Jo El Sonier, James
Burton, Kix Brooks, Billy Dean, The Drifters, and Wolfman Jack.
He has also worked the Grand Ole Opry artists Johnny Russell,
Del Reeves, Jack Green, Ferlin Huskey, Teddy Wilburn, and Billy
Walker. Dave is also an instructor for the National Guitar
Workshop.